Senegal on Monday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, a French citizen who visited France last month before returning to the West African country and being quarantined in the capital Dakar.

“The results of the tests carried out by the Pasteur Institute in Dakar came back positive,” Senegal’s Health Minister Diouf Sarr told journalists.

“So far the patient’s condition has not raised any major concerns,” he added.

It is the second confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, where an Italian national returned with the virus.

Italy has emerged as the European hotspot for the deadly virus with nearly 1,700 cases, while France has reported the third most in Europe, with at least 130.

Likewise, Saudi Arabia on Monday confirmed its first case of coronavirus after one its citizens who had returned from COVID-19 hotspot Iran tested positive.

The health ministry said the man, tested after entering the country through Bahrain, had been “isolated in a hospital”.

Saudi Arabia is the last Arab state in the Gulf to report a confirmed case of COVID-19. Elsewhere in the Arab world, Jordan and Tunisia also confirmed their first cases on Monday.

Last week, Riyadh barred citizens from its Gulf neighbours from visiting Mecca and Medina.

Source:- Vanguardngr